Why 2012 Rocked!

I have been MIA around here for a couple of months. Our camera broke, I lost all motivation to document our lives, we replaced our camera, and I remained lazy. But, I'm back to it (hopefully). So here's a rundown of why 2012 was, in VH1 speak, "The Best Year Ever!"

January
: : Hmmmm......I'm sure something cool happened in January, but nothing is springing to mind right now.

February
: : Eli potty trained!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nothing else in February even comes close to matching the excitement from this accomplishment. Maybe I can't remember January because this thrilled me so much.

March
: : Cole got a promotion! I was so, so proud. :)

April
: : The boys started Little Sages Preschool. They LOVED it, and I had a full HOUR by myself four days a week for six weeks. Cue the choir of heavenly hosts.

May
: : Cancun, baby! We took our first international family vacation. In all honesty, about 30% of the vacation (that being mainly travel time) sucked. I mean, It. Was. Awful. Flights that were way too long, standing in immigration for hours, extremely turbulent flights and a landing that had me hovering over an airsick bag while praying we didn't all die. But, now that it is just a memory, I have chosen to block out the bad, like the mediocre air conditioning in our room, and focus on the good, like Eli and I snuggled on a chair on a white sand beach while he napped the afternoon away and Cole chasing all of our sand toys and shoes down the beach in an attempt to save them from a rogue wave that washed WAY too far up the shore while our children screamed like they were on fire. Ok, if they were old enough to remember this particular event they would be in therapy for years, but to me it was absolutely hilarious.

June
: : Ian started swimming lessons! He adored them. We spent SO much time in the pool this summer. It was fantastic.
: : Cole turned 28!

July
: : On the 4th we spent the day at the Indianapolis Children's Museum. We closed the place. We then came back to C-U, saw Brave at the theater, and watched the fireworks after. The "movie on the 4th" is becoming a little bit of a tradition with us. Cole isn't into traditions, but I am. I think this one is quite fun for us.

August
: : Ian turned four! How is that possible?
: : Cole and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary! How is that possible?
: : Ian started school. Wow! That was a total mind blow. He loves it and has matured so much in the last few months.

September
: : Cole began RCIA. This is so exciting to me because I'm glad our family will be one religion, but much more importantly this is exciting because it is what Cole wants. This was his decision not mine.
: : We bought Cole a new-to-us car. It isn't exactly a luxury car, but we were able to PAY CASH, and that was a real thrill for us!!!!

October
: : I turned 30. At first I was dreading this, but my MIL said something along the lines of 30 should be great because I have a wonderful husband, two beautiful boys, my mom is healthy, we have a cute little house where we have created so many wonderful memories, etc, etc, etc. She was so right! I have everything I've ever dreamed of, so why shouldn't this be the beginning of the best decade yet?

November
: : Cole and I went with our friends to see Jim Gaffigan in Indianapolis. We laughed SOOOOOOO hard. It was an absolute blast. So, so, so much fun.
: : I attended my first parent-teach conference. Talk about weird. As I was driving to it, all I could think was, "How am I possibly old enough to be doing this?!"
: : We went to Chattanooga to see friends for a long weekend. The boys adored this trip, and I must say, it was about as wonderful as a family vacation could ever be. We had fabulous hosts (thank you Henson Family), went to wonderful attractions, and took the boys to a Japanese hibachi for the first time. The hibachi was, possibly, traumatic for the chums, but the adults had a blast.

December
: : Eli turned three! And, at the risk of sounding like a total rip, I must add.....it was about time! Not that I want my kids to hurry up and get older, but Eli has talked and acted like a three-year-old for a very long time, so it didn't seem fair to have to call him a two-year-old. Now his intellect and verbal communication match his age. It just makes more sense.
: : Cole taped training videos for work. I watched one and it was crazy to think that people at work, who don't know Cole, will be watching these and listening to his lectures. But, hands off, Ladies of Caterpillar! I snagged that Senior Engineer when he was just a Freshman in college, and I'm not giving him up! :-)
: : I organized/hosted a Holiday Home Tour for my Mom's Group. It was pretty stressful leading up to that night. I was opening my home to a group of people for critique. I was SO glad when the tour of our home was over. The night was an amazing success, everyone loved it, and I already have one volunteer to host next year. Now I just need three more!
: : For the first time since we got married we woke up in our own home on Christmas morning!!!! It was fantastic. We have the most insane holiday schedules (we drove two hours and then went to SIX different houses on Christmas day in less than 10 hours) so waking up in our own home, with just the four of us, was our only time of peace and privacy that we had all day long. It was weird not being with family on Christmas Eve, but I was reassured that we were making the right decision for us by listening to Father Lopez's sermon two weeks in a row when he stressed the importance of finding "calm in the commotion" during the Christmas season. The few hours we had as just a family were the only moments of true "calm" during that day. The rest of the day was still wonderful being with family, but there was nothing calm about it.

And this is why 2012 rocked!